In many contexts the use of batteries, large capacitors, or other constant power sources is impractical due to cost, weight, size, capability, and other factors. Environmental scavenging of power or energy may provide an alternative to such constant power sources. However, such environmental power sources may not be continuous i.e., they provide an intermittent or periodic power environment. For example, remote sensing devices may operate via solar power, which may be variable. In another example, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag devices may be energized via RF pulses, that occur intermittently rather than continuously.
Due to the unknown signature and unpredictability of intermittent power sources, power storage in an integrated circuit device may not be realistic in certain intermittent power environments. For example, in certain conditions the power from an intermittent power source may not be of sufficient duration to power a selected computational operation within an integrated circuit. Therefore, in intermittent power environments, one must consider the paradigm of intermittent processing and inherent associated problems. One such problem is how to determine the best sequence of processes to execute in a given power cycle and, thereby, maximize the operation of an integrated circuit device in a given power cycle.